Macheen study cites top 10 insights for new mobile reality

We are in the midst of a connectivity revolution, and CIOs need critical insights in order to manage this new mobile environment. That is the message of a new report from Macheen, a mobile cloud application service provider.

In its report, "The Connectivity Revolution: Ten Critical Insights for the New Mobile Reality," Macheen explores the scope of mobility, cloud and the adoption of technologies to support mobile device connectivity.

Richard Schwartz, Macheen founder and chief strategy officer, speaks with FierceMobileIT about the report, which was published last month. Schwartz says the company was interested in learning more about the impact of cloud computing and mobile computing converging.

Macheen took a close look at the impact of BYOD and corporate-owned personally enabled devices on organizations. Schwartz says that while the company has been observing various mobile technology and cloud computing trends for the past couple of years, this is the first time that the firm has done a comprehensive study of the two together.

Some of the findings will sound very familiar, and reinforce what other studies have noted. Other points may surprise readers.

"Innovative business models and solutions are essential to enable enterprises to succeed in the new mobile reality," Schwartz says. "This report demonstrates the need for alignment between the goals of the enterprise and technological advancements by vendors, carriers and device makers. Macheen believes the approach requires the ability to uniquely connect people and devices to just the sites, services and applications needed, for the specified devices, anywhere in the world. We have branded this effort the 'connectivity revolution,'" he adds.

Central to the report are what Schwartz says are the top 10 critical insights that CIOs need to recognize when it comes to the mobile market. They are:

• Workers are untethered--Schwartz cites IDC research that the worldwide mobile workforce will encompass 1.3 billion people by 2015, which represents 37 percent of all workers.

• Devices are proliferating--"Within just seven years, the global data network will encompass more than 13.3 quadrillion distinct connections," Schwartz notes. Furthermore, "99.4 percent of the items that could be eventually linked to the Internet of Everything are unconnected today."

• Consumer devices are going to work--By 2014, 90 percent if employers will support mobility by making company applications accessible via personal devices, according to the Macheen report.

• Mobility fuels productivity--"Mobility can have a tremendous positive impact by increasing productivity and lowering costs," Schwartz says. He cites productivity gains of up to two hours per week for 36 percent of employees.

• Mobile users are overpaying--According to the Macheen report, separate studies conducted in 2013 found that nearly three quarters (74 percent) of consumers overpay for wireless services, and the average enterprise overpays for those same services by 38 percent.

• Mobile security is a top concern--Security worries are not going away anytime soon, Schwartz says. The Macheen study reveals that 84 percent of global IT executives and 63 percent of consumers still cite security as their top concern regarding mobile technology.

• The cloud is becoming more essential--"The cloud is playing an increasingly essential role for businesses and consumers, with a rapid shift of business-critical applications to the cloud and the personal cloud predicted to displace the PC at the center of consumers' digital lives by 2014," Schwartz predicts.

• The cloud is creating historical opportunity--Finally, Schwartz sees "a historic transition is now underway, creating unparalleled opportunity based on consumers' voracious appetite for connected devices, and demand for enhanced integrated experiences when using them." He says there is tremendous untapped potential for cloud and mobile technology to impact business results, but that potential is currently 57 percent unrealized.

Schwartz says this connectivity revolution has both generated disruptive change, but also substantial opportunity. "Understanding key insights can help individuals and enterprises alike navigate this change and realize the unprecedented opportunity it represents," Schwartz says.

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